Immigrant worker background checks have precedents

The front lines of the nationwide battle over illegal immigration could be coming to Framingham if Jim Rizoli has his way.

Peter Reuell

The front lines of the nationwide battle over illegal immigration could be coming to Framingham if Jim Rizoli has his way.

Rizoli, one of the leaders of Concerned Citizens and Friends of Illegal Immigration Law Enforcement, on Wednesday submitted an article for spring Town Meeting requiring business owners to check a worker's background to be sure they aren't hiring an illegal immigrant.

Businesses that don't comply with the new regulation, under Rizoli's proposal, could have their licenses revoked.

The proposal is similar to a handful of efforts made in Pennsylvania, Texas, New Jersey and Arizona, many of which have wound up in court.

When it comes to court challenges, such ordinances have a mixed history.

Last summer, a federal judge struck down a similar ordinance in Hazelton, Pa., while a judge in Missouri upheld a similar law.

In Arizona, meanwhile, a federal judge this week refused to issue an injunction blocking enforcement of a similar regulation while opponents fought the case in court.

Despite the frequent court challenges, Rizoli is confident his proposal would find an audience.

"Anyone who's here has to be authorized to be here," he said.

Rizoli's warrant article, though, may not even make it to Town Meeting.

By law, selectmen must accept warrant articles if they are accompanied by the signatures of 10 registered voters.

Since Rizoli's proposed warrant article wasn't submitted with the required signatures, it is considered an individual proposal, not a citizens' petition, opening the possibility that selectmen could simply refuse to place the proposal on Town Meeting's agenda.

Rizoli, however, is sure his proposal would find its way to voters.

"There's a method to my madness," he said. "If they don't (sponsor it), they're the ones who will look bad."

Selectmen will meet to discuss warrant articles Tuesday. The warrant will be finalized March 18.

Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugees Action Coalition said they would keep a close eye on the proposal.

"The most important thing we look out for in these cases is equal treatment under the law and due process," said Chris Ott, communications manager at the ACLU of Massachusetts. "One of the dangers in some of these anti-immigration efforts is they penalize or put the burden on anyone who 'looks foreign."'

Shuya Ohno, director of communications for MIRA, warns against the unintended consequences such ordinances can have, pointing to Riverside, N.J., as an example.

After passing a similar regulation, more than 1,500 immigrants, many of them Brazilian, fled the small town, leaving dozens of closed businesses and shops in their wake, he said. The town was forced to rescind the regulation a year later.

"It drove away a lot of immigrant entrepreneurs, and businesses closed down," Ohno said. "Especially at a time when people are worried about a recession, this can be very detrimental to the local economy."